It is frequently desirable to strap down or secure the rotor blades of a helicopter when that helicopter is not in use. Securing the rotor blades has several advantages. It protects the blades from swinging, rocking, and stretching, and thereby avoids excessive pressure on a helicopter's rotor shaft. In addition, it stops the blades from spinning in the wind and thereby reduces the chance that the blades will strike something and be damaged. Lastly, some helicopters have folding rotor blades that, when properly secured, make the helicopter substantially more compact for storage and shipment.
Many helicopters, particularly those used for military purposes, are fitted with receiver sockets built into their rotor blades and fuselages that facilitate the securing of their rotor blades. Specialized fastening devices are designed to releasably couple to these receiver sockets and, in so doing, provide fastening points on which rigid pole assemblies or flexible straps can be attached. These rigid pole assemblies and straps, in turn, can be utilized to restrict the movement of the rotor blades.
Nevertheless, despite their wide spread use, many of the fastening devices used for these applications are difficult or inconvenient to use, and/or may occasionally work loose in service. For this reason, there remains a need for alternative fastening devices that remedy these deficiencies.